Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
UPDATE: Plink now limits rewards at Staples to 10 transactions per month.
As I reported last week, Plink has recently added Staples to the list of merchants available for Plink rewards. Plink is a rewards program that awards points for shopping at certain merchants. Plink lets you link a single credit card to your account and automatically awards you when qualifying transactions appear on your credit account. Plink points are worth a penny each towards gift cards such as Walmart, Amazon, and the Tango card (which gives you access to many more gift card options).
With Staples, Plink awards points for in-store or online purchases at the following rates:
- $15 purchase: 50 Plink Points = 50 cents = (3.33%)
- $30 purchase: 125 Plink Points = $1.25 (4.17%)
- $60 purchase: 300 Plink Points = $3 (5%)
$60 purchases are the sweet spot for Plink rewards since you’ll get 5% back in the form of Plink points.
Double dip with Staples Rewards
For almost all purchases (except for gift cards), Staples offers 5% back via their Staples Rewards program. Simply enroll in Staples Rewards and show your card when shopping in-store, or enter your rewards number when shopping online.
Triple dip with credit card rewards
Several credit cards offer 5 points per dollar or 5% cash back at office supply stores. By paying with one of these cards, you can earn yet another 5% back (or more if you value the points more than a penny each). Please see “Best Category Bonuses.”
Quadruple dip with shopping portals
Search for Staples on a site like cashbackmonitor to find the online portal offering the most rewards. Currently you can earn 5% cash back by shopping at Staples via the uPromise portal.
Free after Rebate
Staples frequently offers Free after Rebate items. Buying these can be a good way to increase credit card spend and earn rewards, but usually you’ll lose some money due to sales tax. Between Plink Points, Staples Rewards, credit card rewards, and shopping portal bonuses it’s possible to profit from free after rebate purchases despite the taxes. Some Free after Rebate items are available only in-store, but for those available online the following quadruple dip is possible:
- 5% cash back via uPromise portal
- 5% back in Staples’ Rewards
- Up to 5% back in Plink points
- 5X via credit card rewards
Gift cards
Using a credit card to buy gift cards in-store at Staples with a card that offers 5X at office supply stores has always been a great way to earn rewards. Now, Plink makes these purchases even more appealing. Merchant gift cards have no fee, so one could buy $75 worth of gift cards, earn 5X with their credit card, and $3 extra from Plink.
You can also sometimes find $200 MasterCard gift cards with a $6.95 fee (in-store only). You can think of the $3 in Plink Points as a partial rebate for this fee. It may even be possible to ask the cashier to split the transaction into three payments so as to earn up to $9 in Plink rewards.
Staples also sells gift cards online. You can buy e-gift cards with no fee, or physical gift cards, usually with a $1.99 fee. Here, you can triple dip by earning Plink Points, earning portal points, and earning up to 5X in credit card rewards. For example, if you were to buy $75 worth of e-gift cards (usually in the form of a $50 gift card and a $25 gift card), you could earn the following rewards:
- 5% cash back via uPromise
- $3 back in the form of Plink Points (4% rebate)
- 5X via your credit card.
If you value credit card points at only 1 cent each, this adds up to a 14% rebate on all e-gift card purchases. Note that you will not earn Staples Rewards for gift card purchases.
Wrap up
I don’t think that the new Plink/Staples combination is a game changer, but it is an excellent new option for enhancing the already lucrative options when shopping at Staples. If you are interested in signing up for Plink, you’ll find a link here.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] $100 gift cards. As I reported recently, Plink has added Staples as a reward partner (see “Plinking Staples“). With the addition of Plink rewards, buying $100 Visa gift cards online is once again a […]
[…] at Staples (up to 10 transactions per 30 day period). For full details, please see “Plinking Staples.” UPDATE: Plink no longer offers points for Staples’ […]
Preacher: I think it is a rolling 30 days
Now that OD is in until mid-April, it’s still the 10 transaction/month rule, but is it calendar month or rolling 30 day period?
[…] concept is to spend a certain amount of money somewhere and in return, be awarded a set of points. Frequent Miler has talked about Plink extensively so I wont go into it that much. For the past few months, one of […]
Can employee cards be registered separately with plink to get around the 10 transaction max?
It should be possible if employees have separate bank log-ins for looking at transactions.
[…] I’ve previously written up ways to benefit from the Plink / Staples combination (see “Plinking Staples” and “5X everywhere rises“). Since writing those posts, Plink secretly […]
What can one do with ecards as far as using them to buy debit cards?
Thanks
You can use Sears/Kmart/LandsEnd e-gift cards at Sears (I recommend printing them first) to buy $100 Visa gift cards with a $5.95 fee. Not all Sears’ stores keep them in stock though, and not all cashiers will allow it.
[…] back from a portal, plus $6.25 in Staples Rewards, plus up to $3 worth of Plink points (see “Plinking Staples“). If you value all of those rebates at face value, then this deal could mean earning a […]
Up until yesterday they were awarding me for every transaction, and just today informed me of the limit of 10 transactions per month.
That sucks. This was a good money maker.
UPDATE: Plink now limits rewards at Staples to 10 transactions per month.
Gabriel: Usually the Plink points post the day after the transaction moves from pending to actual on your credit card. If it has taken longer, then contact Plink for help.
How long has it taken for your Plink points from Staples to post? I ordered some gift cards on the Staples website (through UPromise) on 10/12 and nothing posted by 10/21 even though the Plink website said I should see points within 3-7 days. I contacted Plink who manually added the points, and maybe I’m just impatient, but it would be nice to have an estimate for future purchases.
Aaron: I don’t think that Chase would mind. You might get a fraud alert call, but that would just be to ensure that your card wasn’t stolen.
Any risk of doing 10x $206.95 purchases on the same card for 10×300 plink points? Would chase frown on this?
Staples -> Target -> Costco ATM for 10k URs 🙂